Many pet owners enjoy bringing their pets along with them when traveling in a vehicle. As a result, it is necessary to provide food and/or water to the animal especially when the animal is left alone in the vehicle on hot days, or when traveling long distances. Typically, water is provided in an open container comprising a circular bowl including a base integrally formed with a wall to form a concave receptacle. Conventional pet dishes generally make it impractical to supply water to a pet when traveling in a vehicle because the water spills from the receptacle when the animal is drinking or when the vehicle is in motion.
In an effort to reduce the annoyances of spilled water, many pet bowls include an anti-spilling feature comprising a lip or liquid guard. Generally, the lip is circumferentially disposed within the perimeter of the bowl to prevent spilling. Although the lip helps to reduce the amount of water spilled in some applications, prior art pet bowls include drawbacks when used for providing water to pets that travel in vehicles.
One drawback is that often times the bowl is placed on a flat planar surface, such as the floor of a vehicle, without proper stabilization. As the driver negotiates the vehicle on the road, the motion of the vehicle tends to shift or move the bowl along the floor of the vehicle resulting in spilled water. Still another drawback of conventional pet bowls is that the bowl is used for water or food but generally not both. Because the proper care of a pet may require the supply of both water and food, especially when traveling long distances, the owner must provide two separate containers thereby increasing the burden on the owner, and further utilizing more space in the vehicle.
Another drawback is that prior art pet bowls are typically bulky, large in size, heavy and not easily portable. The bowls are difficult or awkward to carry making it cumbersome to transport and use. Pet bowls for use in a vehicle further require fasteners, straps, hooks, or the like for securely attaching the bowl to a window, door, seat, armrest or other structure making it cumbersome for a user to install in a vehicle.
Accordingly, there remains in the art a need for a pet bowl for providing water and/or food to pets that travel in a vehicle where the bowl is inexpensive, lightweight, and optionally includes an anti-spilling feature for preventing the spilling of water from the bowl. There is also a need for a pet bowl that is portable, compact, can be used to provide both food and water, and is securely stabilized within a vehicle when the vehicle is in motion.